A sustainable and green future for the Dutch airline industry has just come one step closer to becoming a reality. The Royal Schiphol Group, responsible for all major airports in the Netherlands, joined the rapidly growing Systems (GSES) network. The Dutch-based green entrepreneurs recently launched a global movement with an independently verified sustainable procurement system.

By The Liberum newsdesk
The Sustainable Procurement market is overwhelmed with hundreds of Ecolabels using different parameters and criteria. All matters complicate sustainable change when measuring the sustainability of a supply chain.

To turn the tide and simplify matters, Dutch entrepreneur Kelly Ruigrok and her team created a new, independently verified measuring system where (purchasing) organisations use the same approach and one language to enforce a green transition.

From a global perspective, the signing up of a considerable international entity like the Royal Schiphol Group is a significant step forward for the system Ruigrok, and her team pioneered. “It also confirmed that we are on the right path to ensure the best results for sustainable change in the supply chain. In the end, that is what counts.”

Florian Oosterman, the Sustainable Procurement Lead at Schiphol Airport, explained that the choice for GSES was natural after he spoke to various parties in the market and compared available measurement systems. Both Dutch and Belgian Airline Traffic Control already use the measurement system of GSES.

Oosterman is responsible for all public tenders and contracts between partners and suppliers and judges the sustainability of every agreement. Besides owning and exploiting Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Rotterdam/The Hague Airport, and Lelystad Airport, the Group owns a substantial share of Eindhoven Airport.

 “Schiphol's goal is to create the most sustainable airport in the world, which is primarily about its assets and operation. A crucial part of this is the many chain partners and suppliers (the entire ecosystem) who can also significantly contribute here, " Oosterman said.

“Now that the contract with GSES has been signed, we will gradually onboard all our suppliers to measure the entire chain for sustainability. In addition, it contributes to being compliant with the new EU legislation”, he added. “I see it as an opportunity for Schiphol and its suppliers: measuring is knowing.”

Sustainable Procurement Manifesto
Ruikrok only sees winners in her global approach. She works together with various parties all over Europe and Asia. To accelerate the paste of change even further, she launched in June, together with the Dutch National SDG Coordinator, SDG The Netherlands, and other organisations, the Sustainable Procurement Manifesto in the Netherlands.

Soon after, it was introduced in the UAE, a country that takes the sustainable lead in a fossil-fuel-dominated GCC region. It intends to positively impact supply chains through professional procurement and contribute to the organisation’s sustainability goals.

GSES tasked Stefanie Schachtschabel to secure the launching of the manifest in the UAE, where 2023 is s dedicated to sustainability, under the theme, 'Today for Tomorrow'. The climax of this year’s year of sustainability is the COP 28 ( United Nations Climate Change Conference) in Dubai, starting on November 30.

“The boarding of a large player as the Royal Schiphol Group sets the example for other large players in the airline industry to take sustainable procurement seriously. The UAE is eager to show that they can lead the sustainable transformations for the rest of the countries in the region to follow.” ”, said Schachtschabel.

Florian Oosterman, from the Schiphol Group, expects much success from using the independent procurement measurement system of GSES. Oosterman: “Together, we can encourage the chain to become more sustainable, which will benefit us all.”